Last Updated on May 18, 2019
Can do hype conveys a vastly different message than doing what we can. While positivist populism is often enough for flag-wavers, it’s not exactly the same as problem-solving. In fact, can do hype is often used as cover when doing what we can is an abysmal failure.
When it comes to abysmal failure, it would be tough to top the Hanford Nuclear Waste Dump Superfund cleanup, that costs $2 billion a year, and has no viable solutions in sight. So instead of simply saying they haven’t a clue what to do, the feds continue moving 56 million gallons of highly radioactive waste around — spilling some, leaking some, and wondering if it might just blow up — while cities like Portland and Spokane monitor their Geiger counters.
While Chernobyl knocked Hanford out of the number one slot as most contaminated site on Earth, Chernobyl is closed, while Hanford is still open. Not that we’d wish to see a mushroom cloud over the Yakama Indian Reservation, but there’s still a chance Hanford could again be on top.
Across the world right now, Indigenous peoples are facing a renewed assault on their lands, rights, and ways of life.
From extractive industries pushing deeper into ancestral territories, to governments rolling back hard-won protections,
the threat is global—and it is growing.
What makes this moment especially dangerous is how little attention it receives.
Stories like this are disappearing in real time. Mainstream media
barely covers it and the coverage is fragmented. The public is left without the context
needed to understand what is truly at stake.
That is exactly why IC Magazine exists..
For more than 20 years, IC has reported on Indigenous struggles worldwide — consistently, independently, and without compromise.
We don’t follow news cycles; we trace patterns. We don’t sensationalize; we provide context.
And when the world looks away, we stay focused.
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Thank you,
John Ahni Schertow
Founder and Editor in Chief
